The Fourth Heat
by Janus Em
Summary: Sam has decided that it's best if he takes a break from hunting leaving Dean alone and vulnerable. The young Alpha veteran they met in their fight against War and the town "overrun" by demons, attempts to forcible knot with Dean. The incident flares up disturbing memories of Dean's earlier experiences with Alphas and going into heat.
1. Chapter 1

"So. Pit stop at Mount Doom?" Dean asked as he held up and looked at the seemingly simple gold band that was War's ring wondering what the hell they were to do with it, how the hell they were supposed to keep it safe.

Sam only looked at his brother, pensive and silent. They were sitting at a picnic table in a rest area on the border of River Pass, Colorado in the late afternoon sun. Sam remained quiet for a moment longer, then admitted to Dean how messed up he really was, confessed that he had a problem and didn't know how far off the rails he was capable of going. He continued his confession, letting his brother know that there something within himself that scared even him. Finally, he admitted to Dean that he was in no shape to be hunting. For his own safety and for that of Dean's, he needed to step back. After a few more moments, Sam quietly and reluctantly suggested that it may be best if he and Dean go their separate ways. Dean closed his eyes and grimaced a bit, but had to agree with his brother.

Sam, more than just a little surprised, said, "I was expecting a fight."

Dean looked at his brother and spoke honestly, "The truth is I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job right. And I just, I can't afford that, you know? Not now."

Sam nodded in agreement tears forming in his eyes, "I'm sorry, Dean."

"I know you are, Sam," and Dean knew that he truly was.

Sam moved a leg over the bench where he sat to stand up.

Dean thought then offered, "Hey, do you, uh, wanna take the Impala?"

"It's okay," Sam stood up, took a few steps, then turned back, "Oh, and Dean… You're really beginning to… I mean… you really need to shower."

Dean breathed in worried more about his brother than himself, "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Sam paused for a second then said, "Take care of yourself, Dean."

Dean nodded back to his brother, "Yeah, you too, Sammy."

Sam walked to the Impala, grabbed his backpack out of the back seat of the Impala, and walked over to a blue pickup truck with a camper shell parked nearby. He said something to the driver of the truck, but from where he sat, Dean couldn't hear it. He watched as Sam moved around the front of the truck and got into the passenger side. The truck drove out the rest area taking his brother and a small boat with it. He couldn't help but feel a sense of isolation, a slight bit of anxiety at being left alone for the first time in a very long time. Traveling alone for unknown or extended period of time was something an Omega learned not to do, still he knew that his brother needed time alone to get a handle on himself before he would be any good to either of them.

Dean sat at the picnic table for a few more moments. He wondered if Ellen, Jo, or Rufus were still in town, feeling the need for a drink, to at least have the company of another hunter for a while longer. Maybe even head out of town with one of them. The day was coming to an end, and as Sammy pointed out, before doing anything, he should shower away his intensifying scent.

He froze in place, suddenly sensing someone behind him. Standing there was the young veteran who had holed up with the others along with War in the church's basement hiding from the demons they all thought overran the town when Sam and Dean first arrived. The young man, Austin was his name, stepped closer. His hands were at his sides, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"That was very touching," he said stopping at the end of the picnic table. With a slight smile he added, "I can't believe he left you here. He just made things a lot easier. He's your Alpha, isn't he? He's not really your brother, right?"

Dean looked around the rest area to notice that there were no other cars parked there except his impala and a black truck where two men stood watching them. One of them was clean shaven and wore a red cap, the other was a tall man at least the height of Sam with dark hair and a couple of days growth in his beard.

Dean slowly stood up from the bench making sure no one was behind him, and that the only others around him were the three men he already spotted.

Austin stepped closer to Dean, "I wasn't sure at first. You tried to hide it, but then I caught your true scent when you came back to the church, right before Roger called you at as a demon. I've smelled that scent before, once before."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dean icily responded as he moved slowly toward the Impala, angry with himself for letting his guard down for even a moment.

After a couple days of fighting and running in the warm summer air, his pheromones must have been running rampant. He was on suppressants, but they only prevented him from going into heat. His natural scent was washed away and covered with a daily routine his father forced him into adopting after his very first heat. Through hot showers and a thorough scrubbing of his body with the pungent soap normally reserved for mechanics and oilrig workers, he learned he could keep others from sniffing out his true ranking. However, he hadn't bathed since their arrival in the small town, and he knew his scent emanated powerfully off of him. Its compelling effect displayed clearly in the face of the young man threatening him.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Austin breathed in deeply through his nose, "That scent is remarkable and unforgettable. You're an Omega."

Dean could see that the two men who had stood by the black truck had moved and were now standing next to the Impala leaning against it, blocking his escape.

Austin stepped closer, "I never believed the stories, not until I met one. The pheromones of an Omega male… fuck, like nothing else. How I've waited for the chance to knot another one. And here you are."

"And you think today's your lucky day? You think you're the first? Just try something and see what happens to you," Dean threatened pulling Ruby's knife out from his jacket.

"Yeah, that's what the last Omega bitch said to me. He was like you, big, tall. Not your typical Omega. And just like you, he overcompensated too. The way he swaggered around and pushed his way through the barracks. We all really thought he was one of us, that is, until we were trapped for two days out in the desert near enemy lines. Sweating under the heat of that fucking sun, fear and adrenaline pumping through his blood amplifying his pheromones, his scent was nearly overwhelming. We almost took him right there with the enemy snipers shooting at us from the hills around us."

Dean remained calm looking past Austin into the brush behind him and then in the direction of the Impala where the men who leaned against were now slowly making their way toward him and Austin. His mind raced on an escape out of the deserted rest area away from the three Alphas closing in on him. With a sneer he turned back to Austin and said, "Jesus! You'll just go on and on, won't you?"

Austin narrowed his eyes at Dean, "Whistling in the dark. You should be afraid. So was the other guy." He moved even closer to Dean, unbothered by the knife. "Let me tell you, Dean. Dean, right? Once we received back up and secured the area, we returned to our base, and as soon as we did we gotta hold of one of these…"

The young man held up a green and purple capsule with his thumb and forefinger. Dean knew all too well what it was, had been afraid of it since first hearing about it when he went into his first heat. It was known as a "Trigger" because that's exactly what it did. It triggered an Omega's heat, nearly incapacitating him or her, making them extremely vulnerable. Although the drug was completely illegal, it was heavily used and often seen in the news, usually included in a story of an Omega's abduction and rape. It was something every Omega learned to fear and watch out for growing up.

"You triggered and raped him?" Dean looked at Austin with disgust then added, "Wasn't he one of you? Isn't there supposed to be some kind of brotherhood with soldiers in combat? Band of Brothers and all…"

Austin let out a dismissive grunt, "At first, maybe…"

"You raped your own brother? What kind of a piece of sh…"

"He was an Omega, Dean! He lied when he enlisted, somehow he even got past the army doctors. Had no business being there, and especially not with us. But in the end, I'd have to say everything worked out really good. Once, we found out what he was… we kept him triggered for months. For months, popping my knot into him, filling him with my jizz, it was amazing. Oh, and was his ass sweet, the sweetest thing I've ever tasted. I'll bet yours is just as sweet."

Dean kept himself from reacting, knowing the veteran's story had to be true. Stories like his were common, anytime there was an Omega caught trying to live a secret life, passing him or herself as an Alpha or Beta, if discovered, it never ended well for them. It reminded him of another story he heard years ago, but also reminded him of why he lived the way he did, taking that same risk of being exposed. He never allowed himself to be treated like a second-class citizen, never accepted a life forced upon him because of what he was born into.

Above all, he never gave in to some Alpha, or let a pack of Alphas have their way with him. The expression on Austin's face was one Dean had seen before, one of expectation and right, like Dean should and would just submit to the Alpha because he was supposed to. It was an expression and attitude he dealt with on more than one occasion when his true nature was discovered. He never submitted before to such unwanted advances, always managed to fight his way out the situation. However, in all those situations, he was never alone, his father or Sammy always fought at his side. Just the same, he would be damned if this mountain hillbilly in front of him and his two friends would lay their hands on him.

Dean rushed at Austin, but the veteran side stepped him landing his elbow squarely on the back of Dean's head. Stunned, but unshaken, Dean jumped to his feet to feel the smashing of a fist against the side of his face by the tall man who had stood against the Impala. Before Dean could react, he fell suddenly to the ground as Austin kicked in the back of his knee. On the ground he felt two intense kicks to his ribs. He doubled over, but still managed to roll away from another kick gasping for breath. Through the glare of the setting sun in his eyes, he could see Austin grab at his wrist pulling him up by the arm to punch him again. He then yanked Ruby's knife free from his hand letting Dean fell back onto the ground in a daze.

The tall man moved in closer and loomed over him breathing in deeply, "Holy fuck! Christ, you weren't kidding. I've never smelled any scent like this before. I'm gonna pop my knot just from just from breathing in his pheromones. Let's get a move on this, I wanna rip into his tight hole."

"No, not out in the open!" Austin yelled. "Back here."

The tall man grabbed Dean by the back of his jacket collar and dragged him into the thicket of the woods surrounding the rest area. Dean could feel his body roughly sliding against the grass, twigs, and dirt of the wooded area, his head still in a swirling daze. He tried to shake off the dizzy feeling to get his bearings on what was happening to him. The air was still slow in returning to his chest as he continued gasping for air. The tall man stopped dragging him once they reached a clearing in the thicket. The rest area and the Impala were barely visible through the shrubbery and the fading light.

The three men moved around him, Dean could see their boots stepping on the brush as they circled him. Suddenly, he was aware of a heavy weight lying on top of him. His legs spread apart with someone grinding himself against his crotch through his jeans. Before he could punch at the man on top of him, someone else grabbed Dean by the wrists and pulled his arms up over his head.

His eyes focused to see Austin pushing up his t-shirt above his chest. The man leered at him, moving his face down to Dean's, only inches apart. Dean felt the Alpha's hot breath sweep over his face, took in the sickening scent of the Alpha's arousal. Austin moved the opened palm of his hand over the tight skin on Dean's chest and belly. Dean struggled to pull his arms free and pushed his hips forward violently in an attempt to throw the Alpha off of him. Austin released a low growl deep within his throat taking his hand and shoving Dean's face to the side exposing his neck. He breathed in deeply as he ran his nose along Dean's neck letting his lips lightly brush against the captive man's skin. He suckled at Dean's neck as his hips continued to grind his erection into Dean's crotch. Austin then pulled back to sit between Dean's legs. He moved his hand over the front of Dean's jeans until he felt his penis through the denim. With a smile rubbed his hand harder into Dean. Dean could feel his penis spring to life at the stimulation.

"I knew it. Every Omega's a whore. Oh, he wants it boys," Austin laughed out.

Dean closed his eyes stunned at his present situation trying to think of a way out it. There had to be something he could do before it was too late, before he found himself knotted to one of these assholes. Whatever he decided to do, it would have to be fast and deliberate. The man in the red cap firmly held his writs as the tall man moved next to Austin rubbing at his own crotch.

To his horror, Austin moved his hands to the top of Dean's jeans unfastening the buttons from the top down. Dean shuddered and pulled at his hands firmly held by the red-capped man as Austin's hands opened the top of his jeans. The Alpha looked at him with a menacing wink then moved his hands down into Dean's boxers roughly grabbing and stroking his cock. Dean couldn't help letting out a frustrated groan laced with a note of fear. It suddenly became all to real that he was about to be gang raped by a pack of Alpha's out in the dark of some mountain woods.

Austin pulled his hand out of Dean's boxers with a satisfied sigh then cupped his hand under Dean's ass with a disturbing whistle. He breathed in the emanating scent from Dean's dampening jeans and said, "Fucking hell, he is getting nice and wet."

Dean threw his head back with a vicious thrust, angry with his own body for its involuntary physiological response to the man stimulating him. He looked to the man between his legs and growled out, "You stop right now, or I swear, I'll kill you the first chance I get."

Austin unexpectedly plunged Ruby's knife into the ground next to Dean's head. Dean instinctively flinched then felt his head roughly pulled back by a handful of his hair in Austin's fist. Dean released a soft cry then felt Austin's mouth suddenly over his, invading it with his tongue pushing down deep into it and then just as quickly it was gone. Austin released him from his grip and moved back to his sitting position between Dean's legs. Dean choked and coughed as something small fell and slid down his throat. He swallowed in panic realizing it was the trigger.

"In a little while, you'll be begging us to knot you," Austin pushed up Dean's ass by pushing back on his haunches, his hands just below either of Dean's knees. Sadistically, the Alpha rammed his crotch into Dean's raised ass.

"Fuck yeah, that's it…" Austin moaned as Dean's body reacted to the stimulation of the Alpha rubbing his crotch into him, releasing a generous amount of wet to seep its way through his jeans.

Dean coughed and heaved, knowing he had to get the trigger out of his stomach before it dissolved into his system. If it did work its way through him, there would be little he could do to resist the urges it would ignite in him. Quickly, he used the position of his raised legs to bring his boots heavily down onto Austin's head as he pulled the man in the red cap down onto the Alpha between his legs. As the two men struggled to free themselves from the other, Dean quickly pulled out Ruby's knife from the ground and slashed it against the tall man who reached for him.

The tall man pulled back a bleeding palm. Dean kicked roughly at the men crumpled between his legs then jumped to his feet and ran back into the rest area. He could sense one of the men immediately behind him, there would be no time to get into the Impala and start it up. Instead he headed directly into the woods beyond the area hopping to lead them away from his car to double back to it later.

He tried to maintain his bearings as he moved deeper into the thicket of the dark woods. Suddenly, he was aware of the sound of running water close by. If he could just make it to the water and wash the emanating heat off him, he'd be more likely to lose the men hot on his trail. Through the darkened woods, Dean found his way with the light of the full moon filtering its way through the trees. The slow moving stream was colder than he thought as he trudged his way deeper and deeper into it. Despite its numbing effect he dived down pulling up handfuls of mud. Across the other side of the stream he leaned against a fallen tree trunk smearing the mud around his neck, face, and arms. He scooped up more mud from the shallow end of the shore shoving extra heaping amounts under his arms and down the inside of his jeans.

He moved to a gathering of trees and climbed the one nearest the stream. Nine or ten feet above the ground, he peered around the trunk and quietly controlled his breathing catching his breath. The light of moon shone brightly across the surface of the stream. There was neither sight nor sound of the three Alphas. But if all three were soldiers like Austin, they'd surely be using the thick of the trees to hid from the light of the full moon.

Dean nestled against the tree trunk out of sight of the stream, and thought once more of heaving up the small pill undoubtedly already dissolving into his system. The sounds he'd make gagging might call their attention to his location, and most likely by this time there was probably nothing left of the pill in his empty stomach anyway. There was nothing else he could do but endure the triggered heat.

In his entire adult existence, he had only experienced three heats. They were physically uncomfortable and filled his head with nothing but thoughts of getting satisfied, nearly overpowering thoughts. It worried him how a triggered heat might feel, if he would even able to resist it.

He remembered the time he experienced his first heat. The humiliation and fear he felt back then flooded over him. He never wanted to experience that sense of fear and uncertainty again. That first heat, the initial one, was probably the worst. It was the one that changed his life forever, the one that distanced him from his father in a way he never thought possible. The second heat was an act of defiance against his father and the third, the third heat was the only one he planned for, was eager to have, was grateful he experienced and took great pleasure in having.


	2. The First Heat

Dean remembered his life before it all changed, remembered his boundless confidence whenever walking onto the campus of their newest school. He was fearless, no one and nothing scared him. The high school in La Crosse, Wisconsin was no different. After all, what were a few Alpha upper classmen when compared to a wendigo or a rawhead? They entered the schools in that city during the last half of the school year, sometime after winter break. Right away, he became the bad ass on campus, the new kid with the wicked smile whom all the girls went crazy for and wanted to meet, the freshman who the junior and sophomore male Alphas took into their inner circle. He hadn't entered his ranking yet, but they all seemed to know that he was destined to be an Alpha like them. He was bigger and taller, more aggressive and bolder than most the other boys in the freshman class. He _was_ one of them.

Even at 15, Dean knew well the world he lived. It was an Alpha's world, and he couldn't wait to take his place in it. Alphas, both male and female were the ruling/military class of their society, garnering the jobs that required any type of leadership role. They were the executives in the business world, the officers of the military, and made up nearly all members of police and fire departments with a few Betas here and there.

Betas were more commonly the educated elite and the working class of their society. They were the doctors, the lawyers, the teachers as well as mechanics, plumbers, and other types of manual and skilled labor. Still, even in their world, an Alpha was usually the one in charge. That left little else for the Omegas, the lowest rank in their caste system. Omegas were expected to stay home and be the breeders of their society. Those that did work were often relegated to the service industry and unskilled labor. Then of course, there were the least reputable jobs nearly exclusively held by Omegas, strippers, escorts, and prostitutes.

Any Omega who aspired to do anything more, was often meant with scorn and opposition. Still, there were the Omegas like Dean, born bigger and stronger than the average Omega. They were able to blend into Alpha and Beta positions by hiding and masking their true Omega identities.

Back then it never even entered Dean's mind that he would soon enter their rank, that he too would go through life hiding and masking his true identity. After all, both his parents were Alphas, how could he be anything less?

It was a spring morning when he woke up feeling warm and a little nauseous, but suspected nothing really out of the ordinary. At the most, he thought that maybe he was coming down with a cold. The thought of spending the day listening to the teachers at Logan High School drone on with their bullshit, made him groan out loud. Going to school was the last thing he felt like doing, but knew how mad their father got when they missed school, even when they were actually sick. John Winchester warned them countless times that he better not get any calls from their schools' attendance clerks asking questions.

He got up from his warm bed, headed for the bathroom, and reluctantly got ready for school. After getting dressed, he walked down the hall and knocked on Sammy's bedroom door then opened it making sure his brother was up and getting ready for school. Sammy looked up from his bed sleepily.

"Get up, Sammy!" Dean ordered.

Dean moved into the kitchen and began pouring them both a bowl of cereal to go with their toast and orange juice. To his dismay, he could feel his body getting even warmer and hoped it wasn't a fever. Sammy came out of the bathroom and plopped himself at the kitchen table in front of the bowl waiting for him still in his pajamas.

"What's that smell?" Sammy asked wrinkling his nose. He sniffed in Dean's direction across the table with a grimace and said, "I think it's coming from you."

Dean clutched at his stomach looking down at his bowl of cereal queasy at the sight of the milk soaked rice puffs. He looked over to his little brother and said, "Shut up and eat your cereal. I don't smell anything."

After managing to get the toast down, Dean decided to take a quick shower to cool himself down, and just in case Sammy was right and he did need one. With the cool water beating down on him, Dean meticulously scrubbed himself, and to his relief felt the fever of his body easing off. He dressed again, and then rushed Sammy and himself out of the apartment into the direction of their respective schools.

Once they reached the corner of the street leading to the elementary school Sammy attended, Dean reached out and pulled at the hood of his brother's jacket. Sammy turned around clearly annoyed brushing Dean's hand away from him.

"What?" Sammy asked.

Dean shifted uncomfortable from one foot to the other breathing in deeply as he asked, "Where's your lunch?"

"I didn't make one. We're out of bread," Sammy answered, perplexed by his brother's peculiar behavior.

Dean felt his body warming up once again with surprising rapidity. He unzipped the top of his jacket letting the cold air breeze onto his torso and to his relief the brisk Wisconsin spring air, cooled him off.

"What's wrong?" Sammy asked.

Dean ignored him as he pulled out his wallet and offered his brother three one-dollar bills. He shoved the money into Sammy's hand and pushed him in the direction of his school, "Just get going."

As Sammy walked down the street to his school, Dean lowered his jacket below his shoulders, took in a couple of deep breaths, pulled it back on, and made his way to the high school down the street.

In his first period class, Dean squirmed in his seat uncomfortably. There was something seriously wrong with him and he didn't know what it was. The fever returned more intense than before, but he didn't necessarily feel sick or nauseous this time. Instead, there was an aching need he couldn't identify burning within him. His skin felt sensitive and prickly and he fought to keep his breathing calm and even.

Suddenly, during her lesson on the distributive property, Mrs. Boatman turned away from the chalkboard and scanned the classroom. Her nose curled slightly as she looked to each of the girls of the class focusing on Myrtle Groggins who sat in the back, always wore black, and never talked to anyone. Mrs. Boatman moved half down one of the aisles of desks and called out to the girl, "Myrtle, are you feeling well?"

"It's not me, Mrs. Boatman. It's someone else." Myrtle answered, letting her anger come across at her teacher's assumption.

Mrs. Boatman looked around the room again smelling the air trying to pinpoint the direction from where the scent came. She couldn't help but let out a surprised gasp when she looked down at Dean next to her realizing the scent came off of him. Dean stared up at her utterly dumbfounded as it finally dawned on him what was happening to him and what it was he was experiencing.

His heart sank and he closed his eyes. "How could it be true?" he asked himself. How was it even possible? Both his parents were Alphas, and male Omegas were the rarest of ranks, what were the odds he'd be born one? Time seemed to stand still as he suddenly found himself in a vacuum of soundless disbelief. He could hear nothing but his own thoughts. And one single thought beat into his head over and over again. An Omega. He was an Omega...

It would change everything. Nothing in his life would ever be the same. Could he ever become the hunter he always wanted to be? He couldn't even remember meeting an Omega hunter. They were mostly Alphas, with a few exceptions like Bobby and Ash. His stomach twisted into a knot at the thought of facing his father and the disillusionment he was sure to demonstrate upon discovering that his oldest son wouldn't grow up to be the imposing Alpha they all assumed he would be. Dean opened his eyes, still stunned and deeply disappointed in himself, to find the teacher looking down at him equally confused and surprised.

When the other students in the classroom caught on to her reaction and realized it was Dean who was going into his first heat, he heard various remarks around the classroom:

"No way!"

"Holy shit…"

"Oh, my God…"

Dean winced at the sound of his fellow students echoing his own astonishment. Normally, he would have jumped out of his seat ready to fight anyone who dared to ridicule or humiliate him, but in his present state, he could only stew in his heat induced discomfort stifling his panting breath and wiping the sweat from his brow.

"That's enough, class." Mrs. Boatman said as she stepped back from Dean's desk moving back toward the front of the class and to the corner of the classroom where her own desk was positioned. She flipped a red switch on the wall behind it and from above the chalkboard a woman's voice came out of the school's PA system:

_"Office."_

"Hello. I need one of the female proctors to escort a student to the nurse's office," Mrs. Boatman loudly said as she pulled out a note pad of blue paper and wrote out a pass for Dean.

The intercom was quiet then the woman's voice returned, _"Understood, Mrs. Boatman. One is on the way."_

"Thank you."

The teacher then turned her attention back to Dean. She looked at him with a genuine look of concern holding out the blue pass to him, "Dean. Please, gather your things. You need to go to the nurse's office."

Dean quietly nodded his head and quickly shoved his notebook and textbook into his backpack. He glared at the other students waiting for one of them to make a comment. Some of the boys smirked at him while most of the girls looked at him with sympathy. Yet, none of them said a word. He stood up with his backpack and took the pass from the teacher.

A female proctor, a Beta with short black hair entered the classroom wearing a red polo shirt and carrying a walkie-talkie. She looked past Dean to the teacher. Mrs. Boatman nodded to Dean. The proctor stepped back in surprise as the teacher moved around her desk. She took the pass from Dean, handed it to the proctor, hesitated then gently patted Dean on his back.

The proctor looked at Dean with her brows knitted and said, "Let's go."

Dean slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed her out of the classroom without looking back. As they walked down the empty hall, the proctor lifted the walkie-talkie to her mouth and said, "There might be a problem. The Omega is male."

_"Did you say male?" _came a voice at the other end.

The proctor read the blue slip of paper in her hand and reported, "That's right. Dean Winchester, 9th grade."

When the proctor and Dean got to the office, the secretaries and a few members of the staff immediately turned to look at Dean. He could hear a few of them whispering to one another until the principal came out of her office. The room fell silent and everyone went back to what they were doing. Dean had seen the principal on campus before walking around it always wearing a skirt with a matching blazer. She looked young and wore her blonde her in a twist at the back of her head to give her an air of respectability and maturity. In her heels, she stood taller than Dean and moved close to him to loom over him, her Alpha nature taking over her in an attempt to intimidate him.

Like the other boys in the school Dean had joked about how attractive she was and how he'd like to knot her in mating. Now, he felt nothing for her but disdain as she looked down at him with an expression of clear disapproval on her face. Alpha females had little interest or respect for Omega males, no matter how rare they were. Physiologically, it was possible for an Omega male to mate with a female Alpha, however socially it was unheard of. A male Omega's scent had no affect on a female Alpha. She was usually drawn to the scent of her Alpha counterpart.

"Winchester, right?" She asked with an of air impatience holding her hands behind her back.

Dean fought against his instincts to lower his head in front of her. Instead he looked directly up at her and answered, "Yes. Dean Winchester."

"Your family never turned in the emergency contacts card. Is either your mother or father at home? I take it one of them is an Omega as well."

"My mother died awhile ago, but she was an Alpha, like my dad," Dean answered meeting her eyes in a defiant manner.

"Do you know your father's work number? He needs to come pick you up," she said to him.

"He doesn't have one. He travels a lot for his job. He's sort of a salesman," Dean normally didn't mind telling lies that sounded like lies to adults, but on this day, he did, especially under the scrutiny of the principal. She looked at him with skepticism.

"Sort of?" The principal breathed in impatiently, "Well, do you have any family nearby? Someone who can pick you up?"

"No, not really, only our uncle, but he lives in Sioux Falls," Dean answered uncomfortably wishing they would just let him leave alone and let him go home on his own. It was times like these that he cursed his father and the way they lived. It was bad enough feeling like shit, but to face that he was an Omega in the middle of a busy office with a bunch of indifferent strangers acting like assholes tore away at him.

"Sioux Falls!" The secretary from behind the counter repeated as she stood up from her desk and moved closer to them, "Principal Hanson, that's over four hours away. We could call CPS."

The principal checked her watch then looked Dean up and down before turning back to the secretary, "Not yet. We'll give the uncle a chance. If he leaves now, he can be here by the end of the school day."

She turned back to Dean and asked, "Do you have your uncle's phone number?"

Dean nodded.

"Give it to Ms. Schmidt."

Dean slipped off his backpack and took out his binder with the local phone numbers for emergency contacts in case anything ever happened to him or Sammy. Their father made him make one every time they moved into a new town, and Uncle Bobby's name was always at the top. Dean handed the list to the waiting secretary.

"Get on it, Ms. Schmidt!" the principal ordered.

"Yes, Miss,"

The principal looked around the office and demanded, "Where's the nurse?"

"Right here, Principal Hanson."

The nurse stepped forward holding a paper cup filled with water and something in her other hand. She looked up at the blond woman and asked, "Where should we put him while we wait for his family?"

Principal Hanson raised a brow glancing from the nurse back to Dean then answered, "Put him with the other one. Omegas are no threat to each other."

The nurse turned to Dean and kindly smiled, "Follow me, Dean."

Dean nodded and followed her as she led him back down the hall to a small room next to her office. The door to the room had a rectangular window with mesh wiring inside the glass on the top portion of the door. She opened the door for Dean. Inside the room were two medical beds that looked more like gurneys pushed against either wall with a bathroom at the end of the room and a narrow space to walk between the beds.

Sitting on one of the beds was another freshman Dean recognized from his fourth period PE class. She had been crying and her eyes widened when she realized the reason Dean too was being escorted into the room by the school nurse.

"Dean, have a seat," the nurse indicated the free bed across from the girl.

He reluctantly sat down dropping his backpack next to him.

"Here's a couple of suppressants," the nurse offered and Dean quickly took them along with the small paper cup of water. She waited for him to swallow them down then took the cup from him and explained, "Once a heat has started, the suppressants won't stop it, but the symptoms will ease off a bit. You won't feel so uncomfortable."

Dean wanted to thank the nurse for her kindness, but couldn't. He simply nodded in the other direction hoping the humiliation of the whole situation would be over soon. The nurse moved away from him and left the two Omegas in the small white room by themselves.

The girl on the other bed tried to make eye contact with him, but Dean peered at nothing in particular in one corner of the room.

"We have PE together, don't we?" She turned her head to get him to look at her. Dean ignored her, not knowing what to say. Not really knowing if he could say anything. He just wanted to be left alone in his misery. When he didn't answer, she continued, "I don't want to be an Omega either. I wanted to go to college. It's so hard for an Omega to go to college and have a real life. I just want to be normal…"

Dean had an urge to tell her to shut up, but he wasn't that cruel. However, he had his own concerns and disappointments to mull over. He had never been "normal," but now even his unconventional life would be even more difficult. Then of course there was still his father he had to deal with.

The girl sighed heavily, but before she could say anything else, the nurse reappeared at the door. She stepped into the room and announced, "Rhonda, your mother's here."

The girl grabbed her backpack jumping off the bed and making her way out the door. With a quick turn back to Dean she said, "Good luck."

Soon after the girl and the nurse disappeared, Dean saw the vice-principal step into view beyond the window, Principal Hanson next to him. He too was an Alpha, and like the principal fairly young and moved about the campus in complete control of the school. He looked directly at Dean with a curious expression causing Dean to turn away from the brown haired man.

The man said to the principal, "A male Omega, I've never seen one."

Dean held in his anger sickened that he could clearly hear them on the other side of the door, and the fact that neither of them cared that he could. He wanted to jump off the bed and throw his backpack at the window and curse at them. However, he knew he was trapped in the room until Bobby came. He knew all too well what CPS was what kind of trouble it could bring to a hunter and his family, so he continued to seethe feeling more and more uncomfortable despite the suppressants.

The principal agreed, "They are pretty rare. I knew one in college, my freshman year. He didn't last long. At the beginning of our sophomore year, he went to a rush party where someone slipped him a trigger. He disappeared. We thought he'd left the party early, but he was still missing the next morning. No one heard from him for days. Turns out he was in the basement of the frat house. He was there for over a week. What those frat boys did to him… "

"Over a week?" The VP asked.

"Once the pill kicked in, the boy's heat lasted seven days instead of the usual three. He was in a triggered heat. I'm sure you've seen a video or two. A triggered Omega only wants one thing; will barely stop to eat and sleep. He never tried to leave or stop them, just serviced the frat boys until his heat subsided. Of course once it did, he went right to the police with accusations of rape."

Dean could hear the VP ask, "What happened to them?"

"The frat boys? Nothing, thankfully."

The VP said nothing.

The principal quickly explained her remark, "My brother was in the fraternity. They were all charged with kidnapping and multiple counts of rape. But, they couldn't prove who gave the boy the trigger. The Omega claimed it was slipped in his drink at the party, but the frat boys said he took it himself when he got to the party. Either way, the frat boys were only following their instincts. It was an Alpha fraternity, after all. What would you expect them to do?

"What the hell was the Omega even doing there?" The vice-principal sounded disgusted then continued, "If his parents wanted him to go to college, they should have sent him to an all Omega one. They do exist."

"At any rate, we contacted the uncle in Sioux Falls. He'll be here before three," the principal said.

"What if he's not?" the vice-principal asked.

"Then we wait. There's no way in hell I'm sending this boy home reeking the way he does. All we need is to have an Omega student of ours gang raped by a pack of his Alpha classmates on his way home from school."

Dean kept from looking at her, but could imagine the look on the woman's face. The overall contempt she harbored for him and his rank was audible in her voice and intonation, in the things she said and the way she said them.

The vice-principal agreed not with derision, but with something altogether different, "I see your point. I can't smell him through the door, but he left a lingering scent in the office… that was very…"

"…intense?" The principal attempted to finish his thought

The vice-principal hesitated then stated, "…intoxicating."

Dean quickly looked at the man, caught the man's leer before he turned away from him to look innocently back at the principal. Something deep inside him stirred. Shocked by his own reaction to the vice-principal's stare, Dean cringed and faced the opposite wall. The heat emanating from his body intensified and for the first time he understood the aching need awakening deep within him. He shifted uncomfortably on the firm medical bed.

The principal continued, "Our only other option was to call Child Protective Services, but the uncle assured us that wasn't necessary and that he'd be here as soon as could."

"Well. We'll see," the VP said doubtfully. They were quiet for a moment longer. Dean turned back to the window to see the Alpha vice-principal peering back at him. The man slowly looked away from him as he disappeared from view to follow the principal down the hall.

Although they were finally gone, Dean's discomfort remained. His body continued to surge with the heat coursing through him, inflamed by the lingering gaze the Alpha gave him. Never did he think that he would be attracted to another man, but Dean found himself desiring the brown haired vice-principal in a manner that truly disturbed him. He shook his head, pushing the images of the man taking him there in the small room, of the Alpha forcing him into position tearing away at his clothing and mounting him.

To his horror, he found himself getting sexually aroused and not just with the familiar erection since his earlier adolescence. Now he found an unfamiliar wet releasing from his backside to seep through his jeans and onto the thin paper sheet spread over the bed. Humiliated and disgusted with himself, Dean gathered his jacket into a ball and brought it up to his mouth to muffle an agonized wail.

When the nurse returned with his lunch, she noticed the dampened paper sheet under him. He couldn't bring himself to face her and stared off into the corner. She crouched down to face him and tenderly placed her hand on his knee. He stiffened at her touch tightly shutting his eyes in a vain attempt to hold back his tears.

"Dean, it's okay," she calmly said. "It's a natural thing your body is experiencing. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

He couldn't respond to her or even accept what she said. She left and returned a few minutes later with a pair of clean, but used sweat pants and a small hand towel. After she left the room he went into the small bathroom to clean himself and change into the sweats.

The nurse returned sometime later to retrieve his empty lunch tray and to leave a stack of medical pamphlets to help explain what was happening to his body. This time she made no attempt to console him. Dean picked up the pamphlet on top of the stack entitled, Living Your Life as an Omega that depicted two teenage girls doing various activities on the cover of it. He forcefully shoved the pamphlets into his backpack with a, "Fuck you."

Finally, after hours of waiting in the small room, the principal returned and opened the door. She breathed in deeply with a stare and flatly stated, "Your uncle is here."

Dean picked up his backpack and reluctantly followed her back into the area of the main office. Uncle Bobby stood beyond the counter waiting for him. The nurse was talking to him, handing him the same set of pamphlets she'd given him. Bobby nodded at her with a great look of concern. Dean knew the man long enough to know that the concern wasn't for Dean or the fact that he was an Omega but in how John Winchester might take it once he found out.

"…heat ends, you or his father should take him to the family doctor. Birth control is something you need to consider, as well as starting him on suppressants as soon as possible. I have to let you know, Mr. Singer, male Omegas are at even greater risk of unsolicited sexual advances than their female counterparts. Their pheromones are unique and most male Alphas find them very compelling. Your nephew needs to be protected."

Bobby nodded, noticed Dean, then turned back to the nurse and said, "Thanks. I'll make sure his old man gets him the help he needs."

Dean walked out from behind the counter of the office to stand next to Bobby. The older man gave him a weakened smile and put an arm around his shoulder with a firm pat. He looked down at Dean and said, "Don't worry everything will be fine. I've already picked up Sam, let's get you two home."

When they got back to their apartment, Bobby had him take a shower then ushered him into his bedroom. Bobby must have talked to Sammy while on the drive to pick him up at the high school because he made no attempts to ask any questions or explanations for what was happening to his brother. He only glanced over to Dean once in a while with confusion.

Dean secluded himself in his bedroom for the next three days suffering through his heat, surprised at the wax and wane of its intensity. He reclined in his bed, in his darkened room unable to sleep. The discomfort of his hot prickly skin and his sweat soaked sheets were too much to bear. Worse than any of that were the thoughts that plagued his mind, and the desperate need he felt to be satiated. To have himself knotted by an Alpha, any Alpha. His thoughts returned over and over again to the Alpha vice-principal and his prurient leer. In the middle of the night, he wondered where the man lived, how difficult it might be to find him.

When his thoughts weren't filled with the vice-principal roughly taking him and knotting him, Dean thought reluctantly of his father and how he would react to what was happening to him. His father's reaction was unpredictable. There were a variety of ways he could react, anger and disappointment of course were the most likely.

When John Winchester finally did come home, it was the last day Dean's heat, late on a Friday night. Dean rested quietly in his bedroom, the heat of his body nearly completely gone, the powerful longing ebbing away. He heard the front door of their apartment open and close then the booming sound of his father's voice.

"Bobby? What the hell are you doing here?"

Silence

"Is something wrong with one of the boys?"

He could hear Bobby answering his father, but couldn't discern any of his words. Unlike his father, Bobby worried whether or not his voice carried off into the boys' bedrooms, in particular that of Dean's.

"What…" Even through the closed door, Dean heard the desperation in his father's voice.

More silence.

"No… no… That can't be right. How? It doesn't make any sense. He's not built like one of them. He's not like…"

A longer silence.

"Goddammit, Bobby, I know that."

After a few minutes of continued silence, there was a knock on his door as it slowly opened. John Winchester stepped halfway into the room and held onto the door. Dean felt his chest tighten and a small part him break when he saw the expression on his father's face. His father appeared detached and cold, as he if didn't know Dean anymore.

John looked at Dean sitting up in his bed and asked, "You ok, son?"

Dean slowly nodded, wanting to say something slightly opening his mouth, but he could think of nothing to say. So he remained silent.

John nodded his head, waited a moment longer, almost said something else, but didn't. He averted his eyes from his son, his brows furrowed either in concern or frustration, Dean wasn't sure. Finally, quietly he stepped out of the room keeping his eyes on the floor.

The next morning Dean was greeted with a plastic shopping bag placed at the foot of his bed. It was filled with the powerful deodorant soap, heat suppressants, and a body spray designed to mask the scent of Omegas. Over the course of the weekend, Dean could see his father make every attempt to act as if nothing were different, as if their lives could simply continue as they always had. He talked about the hunt for a family of ghouls that kept him away for two weeks, and the way he managed to flush them out of their hiding spot in the remote northernmost reaches of Wisconsin. However, something was different, Dean sensed it.

Monday morning, he missed a fourth day of school as he and his father made the two and half hour drive to the Planned Parenthood in Madison. It was during the drive with the two of them alone in the car that Dean realized how different things were. Out of the blue on the long drive his father turned to him and said, "It's not your fault, Dean."

Dean couldn't help but notice over the next few weeks how his father avoided looking at him and refrained from engaging him in conversations except to remind him of his responsibilities to watch over Sammy or to make sure he took his suppressants, his birth control, and to maintain his bathing ritual. On some deep dark level, there was the feeling that his father did think he was at fault for what he turned out to be.

The last two months of school were a nightmare. The week immediately following the heat was filled with a daily fistfight, until the Alphas of his high school learned to back off. But they didn't back off entirely, more than once an Alpha or two brushed up against him in halls rubbing themselves into his buttocks, pushing him in the halls during passing period, or calling out, "Omega whore."

Worse than any of that was coming home to face the distance that continued to grow between him and his father.


	3. The Second Heat

Dean looked at his reflection in the mirror of their hotel room bathroom then down at the powder blue pill in his hand. Ever since his first heat in La Crosse over six years ago, his father kept him on the pills always watchful of him, always leery when coming across other hunters, or any other Alpha male they happened upon. He wasn't a kid anymore, he was twenty-one years old and had had it with his father's suspicions and his distrust. And the anger, the anger he felt for Dean was palpable, always on the verge of being unleashed. Even though he was the good son, the good soldier, the son who never questioned John's orders or second guessed his decisions. Unlike Sammy, who ever since he hit puberty and shot up at least 6 inches, all he did was but heads with their dad. Constantly questioned every order, second guessed all his decisions, and still Dean could see it in his father's eyes that Sammy was his favorite, the Alpha son he always wanted.

Dean knew he deserved better from their father. Knew he didn't merit the suspicions and distrust he saw in his father's eyes ever since they came across Caleb Martinez and his father Ysidro hunting along the stretches of the Umatila National Forest in Oregon. Sam and Caleb crashed into each other in pursuit of one the wendigos terrorizing and killing campers in the area. There seemed to be an usually high number of the creatures, causing them to creep out further and further into areas where humans hiked and camped. Reluctantly John Winchester agreed to hunt in cooperation with the other two men. Every day at dusk they met up with the two other hunters and slowly began to clear out the area, and every day as Dean set off with Caleb, he caught his father's suspicious stare. Dean hated to admit it, but his father must have seen that he did indeed have a growing fondness for the young man, but still kept he his distance.

He rolled the blue pill between his fingers then set it down on the bathroom counter, but continued to stare at it. Only one thing came to mind on how to get back at his father for what he did to him earlier that night. His father had no right to humiliate the way he did in front of Caleb, to pull that Alpha bullshit on him right in front of his friend.

It was a little more than an hour ago when Dean ran through the forest with a wendigo hot on his trail screeching and clawing at him. It got closer and closer, but he knew Caleb was waiting at the clearing ahead as agreed upon. The creature was only inches behind him and closing in, Dean could sense it but dared not break his stride to turn around and check. Suddenly Caleb stepped out from behind a tree with an arrow stretched across his bow. Dean threw himself onto the ground narrowly avoiding the silver tipped arrow that landed into the chest of the monster behind him. The creature released an agonized cry then fell with a thud next to him. Dean rolled over and jumped up to his feet. The wendigo slowly pulled the arrow from its chest then with unexpected speed jumped forward to land on top of Caleb. Caleb pulled up his boots and thrust the creature off of him. Dean swept down and picked up the flare gun dropped at Caleb's side and shot at the wendigo as it bounced back up onto its feet to face them. Immediately the creature was engulfed in flames exploding out of its chest from where the flare landed. It wailed in a wild frenzy as it thrashed about lighting up the darkened forest around them in brilliant flashes of white and red light. Finally, it crashed into a tree and fell to the ground in a burning heap.

Dean pulled out his silver bladed dagger and watched the wendigo as it slowly died stomping out small clusters of flames left in the creature's wake. When he was sure it was dead, he turned his attention to Caleb. Blood and sweat ran down along the other hunter's neck. Dean stretched out his hand with a slight bend in his back. Caleb took it and used it to quickly pull himself to his feet. Still a bit shaken, he steadied himself by patting Dean on his shoulder with a "thanks." He brushed past Dean as he went to inspect the wendigo smoldering on the ground. Dean caught a whiff of the man's powerful Alpha scent and couldn't help but react to it. He breathed it in heavily with a flutter of his eyes. He stepped back just in case his own scent had become noticeable too.

Caleb turned to Dean with a grin, "Good job Winchester, not bad for a kid."

Dean smiled back, "Right, because being a whopping four years older than me gives you an advantage that I can't appreciate."

The dark haired hunter gave him a wink and asked, "Ok, my young padawan, what do we do now?"

"Nothing," Dean stepped up to the blackened creature. "We leave it, and let nature take its course. There'll be nothing left of it in matter of days."

"Very good," he said as he stepped closer to Dean. "That makes a total of three that we've killed. There can't be too many left."

Dean agreed, "I would say one or two, at the most. Hell, I can't believe this many are sharing the same territory."

Caleb shook his head with a heavy sigh, "My dad won't rest until we find their lair. Christ, there's nothing I hate more than hunting a wendigo in its cave."

_"Entonces, deberías estar feliz de que estoy aquí contigo,"_ Dean said with a wicked smile.

Caleb laughed out, "I still can't figure out how a white boy like you learned to speak Spanish so well." He paused for a minute then added, "But yah, Dean, I have to admit, I'm real glad to have you here with me."

Dean, surprised by Caleb's candid admission could only quietly stare back at the other man. The full moon above them cast a pleasing blue light on Caleb's face and intensified the warm brown of his eyes. He didn't know what or how to feel as the other hunter stepped conspicuously closer. Dean couldn't help but breath a little quicker and quiver slightly, but he didn't back away. His eyes remained on Caleb's wondering what the other man would do next. Encouraged by Dean's reaction the other hunter moved in even closer still, their lips nearly touching and said, "In fact, I've wanted to tell you how much…"

John appeared out of nowhere from a cluster of trees. He looked down at the remains of the wendigo at their feet then back to his son and the young man at his side. His eyes lingered on Dean with a disapproving stare as Caleb stepped back. Dean looked down at the smoldering corpse daring not to check if Caleb had noticed his father's silent accusation. John stepped between Dean and Caleb, breathing in expanding his chest and ever so firmly pushed Dean further away from Caleb by bumping into his son's chest with his own. Dean's temper flared. His own refrain surprised him as he managed to keep himself from taking a swing or pushing back at his father. Quickly, he looked over to Caleb to notice that Caleb turned away embarrassed for Dean, pretending he saw nothing.

Dean stepped away from his father back toward the tree where Caleb dropped his bow and picked it up. Caleb moved closer to him with John behind him. The young hunter looked at Dean with an expression of concern and confusion. Dean sensed the other's apology for having witnessed his father's actions.

John spoke loudly with a scowl, "Sam and Ysidro lost the one they were trailing, but we think we're close to their lair."

Caleb took the bow from Dean, picked up his quiver then turned back to look at John Winchester.

John continued, "We'll come back in the morning, search for their lair by daylight." He looked directly at Dean, "Let's head back in."

Dean led the way back into the forest in the direction of where they left the Impala and the Martinez' Jeep. John followed closely behind him with Caleb trailing them both. As they trudged down the hill, John made sure he stood between the two throughout their trip out of the forest. Down on the deserted road, in the clearing where they parked, they found Sammy and Caleb's father, Ysidro, waiting for them. Dean kept his head down walking past them toward the Impala. Sullenly, he took his seat riding shotgun in the sleek black car. Caleb moved from behind John to stand next to his own father keeping his eye on Dean though Dean kept from looking back at him. Sammy noticed something wrong with his brother and walked over to the Impala and got into the backseat on the driver's side.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Dean watched his father talking to the other hunters through the Impala's windshield although he couldn't quite hear what they were saying. He shook his head and said, "Dad's an asshole."

"What? Like you didn't know that?" Sammy said sarcastically.

"At least you're done with him when the summer's over," Dean said staring out the window next to him.

"You could come back to Bobby's with me at the end of summer." Sammy said, "Heck, you don't even have to do that. You're adult Dean, you can do whatever you want. He can't tell you what to do."

That was true for Sammy, not so much for himself, at least it didn't feel like it. It was only through continuous shouting matches, that Sammy finally got their father to let him move in with their Uncle Bobby. He spent the last half of the previous school year living at Bobby's, and would return for his senior year that fall. It was all a part of Sammy's long-term plan. He knew he needed to be at one high school long enough to maintain his grades and to demonstrate a healthy participation in extracurricular activities, all to beef up his applications to college. Dean was a hunter, and pretty much that's all he was. Except for working on cars, it was the only other thing he was really good at. He could see himself making a life working at Bobby's auto shop. But, there was no way in hell their father would let both of them stay at Bobby's. Dean avoided looking at his father as he moved away from Caleb and Ysidro making his way to the Impala.

"I wouldn't be so eager for me to leave if I were you." Dean turned to face his brother, "What do you think he'd do if I did just up and leave."

Sammy said nothing, instead he just looked out the window into the daunting darkness of the nighttime forest.

The drive back to their hotel in the sleepy town of Long Creek was completely silent. Sammy never said much to their father outside of their constant bickering and that usually left Dean to discuss with their father the progress of their current hunt. But on this ride home, he said nothing and stayed as quiet as his little brother as he stewed in his seat. Once they got back to the hotel, Dean locked himself in the bathroom while their father went to get them dinner and probably another bottle of whiskey for himself.

Dean remained in the bathroom until that moment still looking at the small blue pill on the counter. He knew what he wanted to do, how to get back at his dad, but wondered if he had the nerve to go through with it. The anger he felt toward him still festered away. To bump his chest like that, to pronounce that Dean was his not to be messed with, nauseated him. He could only imagine what must have gone through Caleb's mind to witness John's explicit Alpha display.

He picked up the plastic circular container of his birth control and wondered why he even took them. All his sexual encounters were with women, mostly Betas and they all assumed he was a Beta himself, at least without a knot, that's what he thought they assumed. Caleb was the first Alpha male he'd ever considered having sex with. He did like Caleb, liked him a lot, wondered how much Caleb liked him in return. He took out that day's pill from the container and popped it into his mouth. Whatever happened next between, he'd expect it. He picked up the blue suppressant, examined it for a moment then crushed it between his thumb and forefinger rinsing its remains down the drain. A nervous wave of anticipation coursed through his body as he looked back at his reflection.

Two days later they were situated along the edge of the forest at the end of the deepest road leading into it. It was the closest they could get to the wendigo lair in their vehicles. They would have to hike up through the wooded mountains the rest of the way. Dean looked off into the woods in the direction of where they found the lair, lost in his own thoughts. Nearly three days passed without taking a suppressant. His heat might kick in at any moment. He just hoped Caleb was still around when it did. He knew he was playing with fire. Perhaps Caleb being around when his heat did kick in would be the worst thing that could happen. Having second thoughts, he wondered if taking a suppressant now would be effective, would it still work to suspend his heat or was it already too late?

The young man was suddenly at his side with a smile. Dean returned the smile then checked to see where the others were. Ysidro was locking up his Jeep, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. His own father and Sammy were out of view behind the raised trunk of the Impala. Although he couldn't see them, he could hear the two arguing over which weapons each of them should use.

"I hope that dagger at your side is silver plated," Caleb said nudging his shoulder against Dean's.

"Of course it is." Dean smirked and pulled out the pistol concealed in his jacket, "Plus, I've also got this little beauty. Silver bullets of course. I usually use it for werewolves, but I figure if silver tipped arrows slow down those fuckers then so should a silver bullet."

"We'll soon find out," Caleb waited for Dean to make eye contact then said, "I've wanted to talk to you since the other night. I thought we'd get the chance when my dad got us a room at the same motel you're at, but your dad keeps…"

"Yah, he's a dick," Dean said looking back in his father's direction.

Caleb moved around Dean to stand between him and the forest beyond them, "Look, he and my old man are pretty much the same. You know, the same generation, ex-military. Your dad will come around, Dean, mine did. It wasn't easy for him either. At least your dad has Sam, my dad only has me."

Dean furrowed his brows in confusion, "You're…"

Caleb stepped in closing and whispered in Dean's ear, "I'm really glad we found each other, Dean."

Dean instinctively backed away, afraid the other man would pick up his scent before he was ready for him to do so. He still wasn't sure Caleb even knew what it was he was talking about.

The young hunter worked to contain his excitement, "You know, doing what we do, living the way we do. We meet a lot of people, but we don't actually get to know any of them. After the hunt, after we're done with all this, I hoped we could spend sometime together, just the two of us. Maybe go off on our own… I'd really like to get to know you even better, Dean."

John closed the trunk to the Impala with a slam still bickering with Sammy. The two made their way to Ysidro. Dean watched his father knowing he'd never let him go off with an Alpha male, not even for an evening let alone an undetermined amount of time. It all swirled in his head in a mass of confusion. He really didn't understand what Caleb wanted from him. He couldn't figure out how Caleb knew he was an Omega. Even though he stopped taking his heat suppressants, he still used the deodorants to mask his scent, just not as much as usual, but still enough.

"My dad would never go for that. Not my dad," Dean lowered his eyes and looked away.

"You might be surprised Dean," Caleb moved in close again lowering his voice almost to a whisper, "I never thought my dad had it in him to change either. He's such a damned Alpha, he only goes after female Alphas. He won't even look at a Beta, and the only times he's ever knotted with an Omega was at a whorehouse."

Dean quickly turned back to Caleb in worried shock.

Caleb continued with a half smile, "I used to hope he'd come across a male Omega, just so he'd have more of an understanding of who I am. But that's never happened," He looked back to his dad and the others. His father watched and listened as John drew on a homemade map of the surrounding area on the hood of Ysidro's Jeep while Sammy practiced stretching back Ysidro's bow and aiming the silver tipped arrows.

Dean stepped back from Caleb completely perplexed.

"You know, I figured if he got the scent of male Omega and wanted to knot with one, he might not be so fazed by me being gay."

Stunned, Dean said nothing.

"What's wrong?" Caleb asked concerned with Dean's silence, "Wouldn't you like us to get away for a while?"

He remorsefully responded, "I would give almost anything to get away even for just a day."

Caleb breathed in and asked, "Do you want me to talk to your father? I can be pretty convincing. How about if my dad talked to him?"

"I can think of nothing worse," Dean said in all honesty. "He would tell you both to 'fuck off' and that would put a quick end to everything, including our partnership here."

Caleb could see the sincerity and despair in Dean's expression and said nothing more. Dean stepped away from Caleb and looked off into the forest. John moved up to them and said, "We're heading out." He pointed to Caleb with his flare gun, "You're with Sam and me." Then turned to his son, "Dean, you're with Ysidro."

Dean nodded and moved over to the older Martinez as they collected and secured their gear. Before heading out into the forest behind Ysidro, he looked over to exchange faint smiles with Caleb, only to have his father catch him. Caleb noticed and glared at John as Dean turned away stepping in line behind Ysidro. John ignored the young man at his side and trailed after Sam who already moved deeper in the forest. Caleb gave Dean a final wave and followed suit.

Dean and Ysidro made their way up the hill well into the forest heading toward the western opening of what they discovered to be the wendigo lair. The older man moved steadily and purposefully, knowing exactly where he was going. An hour or so passed until they reached the cave of the wendigo hidden behind fallen branches and heavy brush. The older hunter suddenly stopped and pointed to the entrance further up the hill. He then leaned back into the crook of two boulders and lit a cigarette.

With a knowing grin, he took in a long drag of his cigarette then released it downwind well away from the cave's entrance. The man hit the bottom of the pack offering a cigarette to Dean. Dean shook his head then stepped back to lean against a tree. Ysidro blew out another stream of smoke and said, "My son is talking about going off on his own for a couple of months."

Dean avoided making eye contact with the other man for as long as he could then responded, "Yeah, he mentioned something like that to me too."

"You're the first man my son's ever talked about in this kind of way. He's never wanted to go off on his own before, or with someone else. I'm not too sure how I feel about it. I guess I should be happy my son's found someone he feels worthy of his attention. It might be worth it, Dean. Might be worth the fight."

"What're you trying to say?" Dean asked uncomfortable with the assumption both Martinez men made about him, apprehensive that the truth might change both their opinions about him.

"I'm saying Dean, that finding out if you feel the same way for my son might be worth facing your father's anger and disappointment."

"Boy, you two talk about everything, don't you?" Dean asked with a hint of sarcasm.

Ysidro just smiled, "We do, indeed."

Dean let out doubtful breath, "Well, you don't know my father."

A static filled voice cut through their conversation, "We're at the southern entrance. Ready?"

Ysidro took in a final drag of his cigarette then crushed it against the heel of his booth before placing the butt into his shirt pocket. With a nod to Dean he responded, "Roger that."

The two men gave a final check to their gear then cautiously moved up the hill and entered the cave. With white chalk and black lights the two sets of hunters marked their way past the entrances and into the creatures' lair. They communicated with walkie-talkies winding down into the depths of the cave, marking their way. Dean and Ysidro continued on and on through the twists and chambers of the cave finding nothing. Dean marked each fork with a check then crossed it upon circling back into the main passage of the cave. Both men stood silently still when a crackling of a voice came through on the walkie-talkie hanging at Ysidro's side. They stopped as Sam's voice filled their narrow confines of the tunnel they were following. His voice cut in and out in short unintelligible bursts. Suddenly, the walkie-talkie released the echo of shouts, cries, and blasts to bounce off the rock walls around them.

Ysidro held the device closer to their ears, but no more sounds came from it. Dean looked to the older man with a worried scowl. Thoughts of Sammy, Caleb, and even his father falling prey to a wendigo sent a chilling shiver through his body. They waited and waited in the same spot. The only source of light reflected up from the ground below them where Dean pointed the flashlight in his hand. Both men breathed more easily when Sammy's voice remerged from the walkie-talkie.

"We got'em. There was two of them. Dad got a pretty bad slash down his arm, but Caleb says he can stitch it up no problem."

"Check," Ysidro said back to the other team of hunters, "It doesn't look like these two caves connect after all. We're going to finish looking through here and we'll meet you back at our starting point."

"Got it," Sammy answered.

Ysidro nodded to Dean who brought the beam of the flashlight forward as they continued on into the tunnel. They reached a wide den. Dean kept the light ahead of them sweeping through the musky room.

"This is it," Ysidro scanned the room. "Now, let's get the hell out of here and rejoin your dad and…"

The light cast from Dean's flashlight fell onto a wendigo grabbing at and throwing the older man against the back of the den. Ysidro rolled to the ground and out of the way as Dean released all six rounds of his gun into the back of the tall creature. It fell to one knee then twisted its body around to face Dean with a menacing snarl. Slowly, it stood making its way to Dean who quickly pulled out his silver bladed knife and jammed it into the creature's heart. It grabbed him by the shoulders driving its claws deep into his flesh. Dean let out a cry of pain holding back the monster at the base of its neck with one hand and reaching for his flare gun with the other. The creature exposed its fangs screeching loudly trying to bite at Dean. In a blinding moment of quick movements the creature fell to the floor its head separated from its body. Ysidro whistled out coolly looking at the dark blood dripping off his machete then shoved it back into its sheath. He pulled out a small canister of lighter fluid and poured its contents over the twitching body of the wendigo. As he recapped the canister and replaced it back in his jacket pocket, Dean had already struck three wooden matches and dropped them onto the corpse.

With a smile and smack on Dean's back Ysidro said, "Good job, Son."

Dean nodded his thanks, but kept his attention on the burning remnants of what he hoped was finally the last of the wendigos in the area.

"That makes six. I've never seen such an infestation in one area. Hopefully, I never will again. God, how I hate these damn things," Ysidro said then pulled out the thin black light from his pocket and began to retrace their chalk markings back to the cave entrance. He cautiously led their way to the cave entrance turning back to Dean only once to say, "You can really hold your own, kid. I can see why my son's so taken with you."

Dean smiled in spite of himself and said, "Just keep walking old man."

Hours later they were still celebrating the hunt. Ysidro and his father were across the bar drinking and laughing about something, mostly likely sharing hunting stories. Dean didn't really care, he was just glad that his father finally stopped shooting him looks to check on him as he and Caleb played a game of pool at the back of the bar. His father was relaxed and enjoying himself. And to Dean's excitement, the timing couldn't be more perfect. His heat was kicking in. It was his first in six years, but it was starting exactly as he remembered. Earlier he felt his body temperature rising, a slight nauseous feeling. Now his entire being burned intensely, he felt that familiar ache, and this time, in this heat, he knew what it was and what to do. He moved in closer to Caleb taking hold of the other's pool cue.

"What's wrong?" Caleb smiled at him.

Dean watched him as has his facial expression completely changed. Caleb's smile disappeared and his eyes narrowed at Dean as he moved in closer taking in his scent. He released a quiet gasp and breathed in deeply leaning in closely to Dean's neck. His eyes fluttered. He took a quick step back and said, "You're… You're an Omega?"

Dean quivered in his excitement and the anticipation of what might happen next with the man in front of him.

"Dear God… your scent. It's almost too much to bear," Caleb said as he took hold of Dean by the shoulders. He quickly looked in the direction of their fathers who continued laughing and drinking, then shoved Dean out of sight down the hall toward the bar's restrooms. Dean's back slammed against the wall as Caleb pushed into him grinding his crotch into Dean's, burying his face into Dean's neck, nibbling and kissing it between breathing in the heady Omega scent. Dean's breath quickened and his heat rose up within him. Its sensation was overwhelming, like nothing he ever experienced before. It was a new state of ecstasy, the heat and want of his skin coupled with the handsome man grinding up against him and kissing his neck was exhilarating. It was like a wave of fire coursing through him, but instead of the unrequited want of his first heat, this one was filled pure pleasure and satisfaction. The warmth of Caleb's body on his, the power of his hormones teeming with his Alpha scent, sent Dean into a frenzy. His erection was rigid and aching to escape his jeans as Caleb pushed into him deeper and harder.

Caleb kissed his way up into Dean's ear and whispered, "You are so fucking beautiful. I wanted you the first time I laid eyes on you."

He pulled back to look into Dean's eyes and caressed the side of his face with one hand.

Dean smiled slightly embarrassed, "Come on, man. Beautiful? You couldn't say handsome?"

"You're way past handsome, Dean." Caleb pressed his lips against Dean's and ignited something deep within him. His body heaved and burned and yearned for the Alpha consuming him. Caleb pushed himself into Dean's very being using his tongue to explore and invade him, which Dean was completely willing to give in to. Dean felt the Alpha's hands on his chest circling his torso, one hand resting on his back the other behind his head moving his fingers through his hair. Dean finally allowed himself the same privilege and explored the other mans' body in return. The kiss was new and different, to feel someone as big and tall as him, as firm and muscular. It was intriguing and he liked it, no he loved it.

Caleb released him, his lips puffy and smeared with Dean's essence. With a leer, Caleb dropped his hand from Dean's back down to his hips then quickly flipped him around. Dean's chest landed against the wall. Caleb's hands were on his back moving down to his buttocks. He couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise and pleasure as Caleb moved his hand over his backside under it moving toward, and caressing that sweet spot between his ass and his balls. For the first time in years, Dean felt a heavy flow of wet release from his body and for the first time let himself enjoy it.

Caleb moaned heavily then moved his body onto Dean's, his erection grinding into him, his lips whispering into Dean's ear, "I want you more than I have ever wanted anyone else…"

Dean turned his head to find Caleb's when he noticed the other man was no longer over him or even near him. He turned around from the wall to see his father holding Caleb by the arm away from him. He trembled, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable in his wet jeans.

John Winchester looked at his son with a mixture of disappointment and disgust, "What the fuck are doing?" He shuddered catching his son's scent, "Are you in heat? Are you in fucking heat!?"

Caleb looked from Dean to John, "I'm sorry. We didn't…"

John glared at the younger man and said to him with a push, "You keep away from my son."

"Your son is an adult. He can make his own decisions," Caleb said with calm respect.

John put his hand on Caleb's chest and gently pushed him back toward the bar, "You need to back off."

Ysidro came into the hall to stand at his son's side. He knocked John's hand away from Caleb's chest and said, "Leave them be John. This isn't any of our business."

John took a step back grabbing Dean by his denim shirt, "My son's an Omega and he's in heat. We're leaving."

Dean saw the disbelief register on Ysidro's face, saw his expression go from one of support to one of confusion. He looked to Caleb and shook his head stepping aside and moving Caleb with him, allowing John and Dean to head back into the bar.

John gave Dean a firm push and Dean gave one last look to Caleb. There was something on Caleb's face, something he wanted to say, but he remained quiet, his father's arm resting across his chest keeping him from moving toward Dean. There was no way Dean was ready to make a scene in the small town hick bar. Instead, he looked forward and moved into the bar, past the pool table, back to the chair where he left his jacket. Without stopping he pulled it off the chair, slipped it on, and headed out the bar door making his way across the street. John followed him closely out into the street, past the Impala in the motel parking lot to their room.

He opened the door and shoved Dean into the room yelling, "Didn't you take your suppressants? How the fuck do you forget something like that Dean!"

Sammy who had been sitting off in the corner of the room behind a table stacked with SAT study guides, jumped up from his chair and asked, "What the hell's going on?"

John pointed a finger at his youngest son, "You stay out of this, Sam!"

Dean tugged his arm free of his father's hold, "I didn't forget. I didn't take it on purpose."

"What the fuck…" John whispered out in anger.

Dean said nothing.

"You're an Omega, Dean. A fucking Omega!" His father pulled back Dean's arm forcing Dean to face him. All of his father's pent up rage came across clearly for the first time ever, uninhibited by the flow of alcohol still in his system, "You know what that means! You can't walk around in heat…"

Dean kept looking down daring not to argue with his father.

John slowly moved away from Dean to the nightstand where he left his bottle of whiskey. With a long swig, he emptied the last of its contents then shook his head and said with eerie composure, "What the hell's the matter with you? Is that what you want? You want some Alpha male to knot you? Is that what you are?"

"Jesus Christ, Dad!" Sammy spoke up moving around from behind the table, "What the hell's the matter with _you_!"

John yelled back, "Keep out of this Sammy! This isn't any of your goddamn business!"

He then looked at Dean with a hint of regret and quietly said, "Go take a shower, you're making the room reek. Your brother and I _are_ Alphas for fuck's sake."

Dean felt his anger intensify by the surging of his heat. His skin itched and the need to find Caleb and finish what they started was overwhelming. At that moment he was ready to beat his father to the ground and walk over his body to get to Caleb. He stifled his breathing closing his eyes and balling his hands in fists trying to compose himself, but he didn't move.

Even in his increasing agitated state, it wasn't in his nature to get into a shouting match with his dad; that was Sammy's role. Dean looked to his father and asked him as calmly as he could, "What is it, Dad? What is it you hate the most about me? That I'm an Omega? Or that I want to spend time with another man?"

John lost his patience and grabbed Dean by the collar of his canvas jacket and hauled toward the bathroom releasing him with a brutal push at its doorway, "Get your ass in there and wash that stink off you!"

"Dad, stop!" Sammy shouted.

Without looking at him, John shouted, "Shut up, Sam!"

John narrowed his eyes at his older son and took a step closer with a threat, "You hear me?"

Dean caught his balance from his father's push then stood up straight, but didn't move to enter the bathroom. He breathed in and said, "I'm going to go have a drink with my friend, and if he and I decide to do anything more then that's our business and no one else's."

He straightened his jacket and made his way back to the front door.

"If you walk out that door Dean, you better just keep walking!" John took one step closer to the door and said with a sharper and louder tone of voice, "If you go with that boy then you're on your own, for good. Is that what you want? Do you really want to be an Omega alone in this world! Do you really want to lose your family to knot with some stranger you just met?"

Dean's heart dropped. There was only so far he was willing to push his father and he knew his threat wasn't an empty one. He wouldn't let Dean come back to him and his brother. He would lock him out of their lives and leave Dean out in the world alone and at that time of his life, nothing scared him more.

And what would Caleb do if he were to knock on his door in full heat? What would _his_ father do? After all, he too was an Alpha. Surely, from what Caleb said, his father had little regard for Omegas. Would he expect to knot with Dean after his son? Would he still be willing to let the two of them be? And even if he did, then what? They wouldn't want to put up with him for three days for the duration of his heat. When Caleb suggested the two run off together, he had no idea Dean was an Omega. Would his offer still stand? The world was no place for a lone Omega, especially one in heat. He stopped at the door, tightly shut his eyes then turned around.

He turned away from his father to look at Sammy. The summer was nearly over, and Sammy would soon be living with Bobby in Sioux Falls waiting for the new school year to start. Sammy looked to him now in desperation. They both knew that if he were to take off for good, their father would undoubtedly force Sammy back into hunting with him. Dean hesitated then walked silently past his father into the bathroom closing the door with a slam. He popped a handful of suppressants into his mouth then waited for the shower's water to get good and hot before he jumped into it. His heart and body ached as he scrubbed all the last remaining traces of Caleb's scent off of him as well as his own. Slowly, he reduced the heat of the water until it was cool and cooler still.

After feeling the heat of his body subside a bit, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He dried himself with a towel then wrapped it around his waist. The cool water of the shower helped considerably, but from what he remembered, he had at least three days ahead of him of prickly sensitive skin, intense body heat, horrible night sweats, and worst of all, an unfulfilled ache to be satiated.

When he opened the bathroom door to get a fresh set of clothing, his father and Sammy were all packed with their bags in their hands standing by the opened front door. His own things were still sprawled across his bed and the roll-away Sammy slept in was folded up and pushed out the door. Dean looked back to his father in worried confusion. John Winchester nudged for Sammy to leave the room first. Sammy looked back to Dean then reluctantly went out the door.

John breathed in deeply before saying, "We'll be back in three days. The room's paid for and there's just enough food left in the kitchenette to last until then. Caleb and his father have already checked out and moved on. I strongly suggest you stay in this room until your heat is over."

John looked away then closed the door behind him leaving Dean alone in the room. He stood at the center of the empty room for a few more minutes listening to the powerful engine of the Impala rev up then drive out of the parking lot. Instead of dressing, he walked over to the small table now empty of Sammy's study guides and sat down. He looked around the all too quiet room. For the first time in his life that he could remember, he was alone, completely alone and vulnerable. It wasn't a feeling he liked having, and knew his father was doing it to prove his point.


End file.
